Paper-Based Pallet

ABSTRACT

A paper-based pallet includes paper-based material top and bottom decks spaced apart by wound paperboard tubes. The decks are formed either by a single piece of paper-based material folded in C-shaped fashion or by two separate pieces of paper-based material. At least at one side of the pallet, flaps extend from the top deck and corresponding flaps extend from the bottom deck. The flaps are arranged in pairs each having a flap from the top deck overlapping a flap from the bottom deck, the overlapping flaps being secured together. Tine-receiving openings can be defined between adjacent pairs of flaps. The top deck can be reinforced at each opening by a flap hinged to the top deck and folded 180 degrees into contact with the top deck and secured thereto, thus forming a double-layer edge portion of the top deck.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to pallets, and more particularly relates to pallets made substantially from paper-based materials.

Pallets are widely used for supporting items in a manner enabling the palletized items to be moved about with the aid of a forklift or lift truck. The vast majority of pallets in use at present are constructed from wood and accordingly are quite heavy, sometimes exceeding the weight of the items being supported (e.g., when supporting cartons of toilet paper or the like). Wooden pallets are expensive to ship because of their substantial weight. It has been recognized that the weight of a pallet could be substantially reduced by constructing the pallet from paper-based materials, and various designers have endeavored to develop such a paper-based pallet, with varying degrees of success.

The present application relates to improvements in paper-based pallets.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure in particular describes a paper-based pallet capable of achieving a high supported load-to-weight ratio and/or other advantages. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, a paper-based pallet is described herein, comprising:

a top deck comprising a first sheet of paper-based material;

a bottom deck comprising a second sheet of paper-based material; and

a plurality of spacers disposed between and affixed to the first and second sheets such that a vertical space is defined between the top and bottom decks;

wherein at one side of the pallet the first sheet defines a first flap comprising an integral portion of the first sheet extending from an edge of the top deck and the second sheet defines a second flap comprising an integral portion of the second sheet extending from an edge of the bottom deck, the first and second flaps being folded down and up, respectively, to extend vertically, and the first and second flaps overlapping and being secured to each other.

In one embodiment, there are a plurality of first flaps from the first sheet spaced apart along said one side of the pallet and a plurality of second flaps from the second sheet spaced apart along said one side, the flaps forming pairs each comprising a first flap overlapped with a second flap and having the flaps secured to each other. Optionally, there can be overlapping first and second flaps at two or more sides of the pallet.

In a particular embodiment, there are three said pairs of first and second flaps at said one side of the pallet. The pairs are spaced apart so as to define two spaced tine-receiving openings at said one side for receiving tines of a forklift.

In a further embodiment, the first sheet defines reinforcing flaps at the locations of the two openings at said one side of the pallet, said reinforcing flaps being folded 180 degrees relative to the top deck so as to contact the top deck and being secured to the top deck to form a double-layer edge portion of the top deck adjacent each of the openings at said one side of the pallet.

Pallets in accordance with the invention can be formed either using two separate pieces of paper-based material (i.e., one piece for the top deck and another piece for the bottom deck) or by using a single piece of paper-based material folded in a generally C-shaped manner to form the top and bottom decks.

In the case of the single-piece design, where the first and second sheets are portions of a single continuous piece of paper-based material, the piece of paper-based material can be folded at another side of the pallet opposite from said one side so as to form a side wall at said other side, the side wall extending between and connecting the top deck to the bottom deck at said other side. The one side of the pallet has overlapping first and second flaps (which extend from the free ends of the single piece of paper-based material), and can have double-layer portions at the tine-receiving openings, as previously described.

With the single-piece embodiment of the pallet, tine-receiving openings at said other side (i.e., the side having the side wall) can be created by two spaced reinforcing flaps cut out from the side wall and hingedly connected to the top deck, said reinforcing flaps being folded 180 degrees relative to the top deck so as to contact the top deck and being secured to the top deck to form a double-layer edge portion adjacent each of the openings at said other side of the pallet.

In any of the various embodiments described herein, the spacers between the top and bottom decks can comprise wound paperboard tubes each oriented with an axis of the tube extending vertically. The tubes can be glued to the decks.

Pallets as described herein have enhanced resistance to impact and shear loading and other wear and tear experienced by the pallets in use, in part because of the overlapping flaps that are secured to each other. Additionally, when the double-layer edge portions are present, these edge portions can greatly reduce the tendency of the top deck to be torn by banding that is frequently wrapped around the top deck and around the supported load to stabilize the load.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a pallet in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the assembled pallet of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the first (top) sheet, viewed in an inverted orientation for illustrative purposes, in accordance with a further embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a pallet in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the assembled pallet of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a pallet in accordance with a still further embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the assembled pallet of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which some but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, and thus the relative proportions of various elements suggested by the drawings is not necessarily indicative of the actual relative proportions.

With reference to FIG. 1, a pallet 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in an exploded view, and in FIG. 2 the pallet 10 is shown in the assembled condition. The pallet 10 is a substantially paper-based pallet, i.e., paper-based materials make up the majority of the pallet on a weight basis. In the illustrated embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the pallet 10 is constructed from a first sheet 20, a second sheet 30, and a plurality of spacers 40. The first and second sheets comprise paper-based materials, non-limiting examples of which include corrugated board or cardboard. In the case of corrugated board, it can be single-wall (i.e., having a single corrugated layer plus one or two non-corrugated facing sheets) or double-wall (i.e., having two corrugated layers with a non-corrugated sheet between them, plus one or two non-corrugated facing sheets). In the case of double-wall corrugated board, the two corrugated layers can have the same flute geometry or two different flute geometries (e.g., one layer can have “B” flutes and the other can have “C” flutes).

The spacers 40 preferably also comprise substantially paper-based spacers. In the illustrated embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the spacers comprise wound paperboard tubes. The diameter, wall thickness, and length of the spacers 40, and the paperboard grades used in their construction, can be selected in order to achieve the desired or needed strength properties of the spacers.

The first sheet 20 is generally planer and generally rectangular (which term includes square or non-square quadrilaterals), as is the second sheet 30. The sheets 20 and 30 have the same or substantially the same lengths and the same or substantially the same widths. The spacers 40 are arranged between the sheets to space them apart vertically. The spacers 40 are arranged in an array configuration such that there are openings between them for receiving the tines of a forklift, as further described below. When the spacers comprise wound paperboard tubes, the tubes have their longitudinal axes oriented vertically and the opposite ends of the tubes engage the underside of the first sheet 20 and the upper side of the second sheet 30. The spacers are securely fastened to the sheets, such as by gluing. Suitable adhesive or glue materials for this purpose include hot melt glues, although the invention is not limited in terms of adhesive type.

The first sheet 20 forms a top deck 20A of the pallet and the second sheet 30 forms a bottom deck 30A of the pallet. Items to be palletized are supported atop the top deck 20A and the bottom deck 30A rests on the floor or ground. In some cases, the user may employ straps or bands (not shown) that are passed through the space between the top and bottom decks and over the tops of the items on the pallet and are tightened about the items to stabilize them.

Paper-based pallets having the features described thus far possess advantages over wooden pallets, especially when used for supporting items that are relatively light in weight, such as trays of corrugated boxes, toilet tissue, or paper towels. A wooden pallet is over-designed for such lightweight items, and using wooden pallets in that context is wasteful of raw materials and also leads to increased costs for shipping as well as for disposal of the pallets when they have reached the end of their useful lives. Furthermore, wooden pallets can harbor wood-boring parasites.

A possible drawback of paper-based pallets having the features described thus far is that the abuse-resistance of the pallet depends entirely upon the integrity of the glue bonds between the ends of the spacers 40 and the top and bottom decks 20A and 30A. If those glue bonds should fail, then the integrity of the pallet is completely compromised. A further possible drawback relates to the use of bands for stabilizing palletized items as noted above. The bands can tend to cut into the top sheet 20 and cause tearing of the sheet as well as damage the palletized items adjacent the perimeter of the top deck.

The further features to be described below are aimed at alleviating or reducing these potential drawbacks. Abuse-resistance of the pallet 10 is enhanced by providing a further connection between the first sheet 20 and the second sheet 30 so that the glue bonds between the sheets and the spacers 40 are not the sole connection between the decks. In particular, in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, that further connection is provided by first flaps 22 that extend from two opposite side edges of the top deck 20A, and second flaps 32 that extend from two opposite side edges of the bottom deck 30A. As illustrated, in this embodiment there are three first flaps 22 at each of the opposite sides of the top deck 20A, and correspondingly three second flaps 32 at each of the opposite sides of the bottom deck 30A. The three flaps at each side are spaced apart along the side, such that there are two spaced openings 50 defined between adjacent flaps. The spacers 40 are arranged with a similar spacing such that the do not obstruct these openings 50. The openings 50 are spaced apart by the same amount by which the tines of a standard fork of a forklift are spaced apart, so that the tines are able to enter the openings 50 for lifting the pallet. Additionally, at the other two sides of the pallet (i.e., the sides perpendicular to the sides having the flaps 22, 32), there are similar tine-receiving openings 50 by virtue of the spacers 40 being suitably spaced apart. Thus, the pallet 10 is a four-way-entry pallet.

The first flaps 22 are folded down, about fold or crease lines, such that the first flaps 22 extend vertically. The second flaps 32 are folded up, about fold or crease lines, such that the second flaps 32 extend vertically. Each first flap 22 overlaps a corresponding second flap 32, and the two flaps in each pair of overlapping flaps are secured to each other such as by staples 24 or alternatively by glue. There is thus a strong connection between the first sheet 20 and the second sheet 30 at each of the two opposite sides having the flaps, which greatly enhances the abuse-resistance of the pallet.

With reference to FIG. 3, an alternative embodiment of a first sheet 20′ is depicted, which is designed for enhancing the resistance of the sheet to tearing by load-stabilizing bands. The first sheet 20′ has three spaced first flaps 22 as in the previously described embodiment. Additionally, the first sheet defines reinforcing flaps 26 at the locations of the two openings 50 (FIG. 2) between adjacent flaps 22. These reinforcing flaps are folded 180 degrees relative to the top deck so as to contact the top deck and are secured to the top deck (e.g., by staples or glue) to form a double-layer edge portion adjacent each of the openings 50. These double-layer edge portions are substantially more-resistant to tearing by the load-stabilizing bands, relative to a single-layer edge portion as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2.

In a further (non-illustrated) embodiment, there are overlapping flaps 22, 32 and reinforcing flaps 26 on all four sides of the pallet.

The invention is not limited to four-way-entry pallets such as the pallet 10 described above. FIG. 4 illustrates, in exploded view, an alternative pallet 110 comprising a two-way-entry pallet, and FIG. 5 shows the pallet as assembled. The pallet 110 includes a first sheet 120, a second sheet 130, and spacers 140. The first sheet defines a single first flap 122 at each of two opposite sides of the top deck 120A, and the second sheet defines a single second flap 132 at each of two opposite sides of the bottom deck 130A. Each first flap 122 overlaps the corresponding second flap 132 and is secured thereto such as by staples or glue. A forklift can enter the pallet 110 from either of the two sides not having the flaps 122, 132. It will also be apparent that, while not so illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the two-way-entry pallet 110 could also include reinforcing flaps at the two open sides, similar to the embodiment of FIG. 3.

The pallets 10 and 110 described thus far can be denoted as “two-piece” designs, in that the top deck 120A and the bottom deck 130A are respectively formed by two separate pieces 120 and 130 of sheet material. The present application, however, also relates to what can be denoted as a “one-piece” design such as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. The pallet 210 illustrated in those figures comprises a single piece of sheet material that is folded in a generally C-shaped fashion so as to define a first sheet 220 and a second sheet 230 constituting respective portions of the single sheet. The first sheet 220 defines the top deck 220A and the second sheet 230 defines the bottom deck 230A in a manner similar to the previously described embodiments. Spacers 240 are disposed between and secured to the sheets 220 and 230. A first flap 222 extends from the top deck 220A and a second flap 232 extends from the bottom deck 230A are one side of the pallet. By virtue of the C-folded configuration of the single sheet, the pallet 210 has a side wall 223 that extends between and connects the top deck 120A to the bottom deck 130A at an opposite side of the pallet. The first flap 222 overlaps with the second flap 232 and these flaps are secured together such as by staples or glue.

The one-piece pallet 210 is a two-way-entry pallet, since the side wall 223 and the flaps 222, 232 extend continuously along each of the opposite sides of the pallet. It will be apparent, however, that the one-piece pallet design described above could be modified to be a four-way-entry pallet, simply by providing three spaced flaps as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, instead of single continuous flaps 222, 232, and by providing cutouts or flaps in the side wall 223 to define tine-receiving openings. Where flaps are provided in the side wall 223, those flaps could be used to form double-layer reinforcing regions at the openings, and reinforcing flaps could also be provided at the opposite side of the pallet, similar to what is depicted in FIG. 3.

In any of the pallets described above, the bottom deck optionally can include openings to allow the wheels of a pallet jack to engage the floor.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A paper-based pallet, comprising: a top deck comprising a first sheet of paper-based material; a bottom deck comprising a second sheet of paper-based material; and a plurality of spacers formed as separate parts from the first and second sheets and disposed between and affixed to the first and second sheets such that a vertical space is defined between the top and bottom decks; wherein at one side of the pallet the first sheet defines a first flap comprising an integral portion of the first sheet extending from an edge of the top deck and the second sheet defines a second flap comprising an integral portion of the second sheet extending from an edge of the bottom deck, the first and second flaps being folded down and up, respectively, to extend vertically, and the first and second flaps overlapping and being secured to each other.
 2. The pallet of claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of first flaps from the first sheet spaced apart along said one side of the pallet and a plurality of second flaps from the second sheet spaced apart along said one side, the flaps forming pairs each comprising a first flap overlapped with a second flap and secured to each other.
 3. The pallet of claim 2, wherein there are three said pairs of first and second flaps at said one side of the pallet.
 4. The pallet of claim 3, wherein the pairs are spaced apart so as to define two spaced tine-receiving openings at said one side for receiving tines of a forklift.
 5. The pallet of claim 4, wherein the first sheet defines reinforcing flaps at the locations of the two openings at said one side of the pallet, said reinforcing flaps being folded 180 degrees relative to the top deck so as to contact the top deck and being secured to the top deck to form a double-layer edge portion adjacent each of the openings at said one side of the pallet.
 6. The pallet of claim 5, wherein the first and second sheets are two separate pieces, and wherein at another side of the pallet opposite from said one side the first sheet defines a plurality of first flaps spaced apart along said other side of the pallet and a plurality of second flaps from the second sheet spaced apart along said other side, the flaps forming pairs each comprising a first flap overlapped with a second flap and secured to each other.
 7. The pallet of claim 6, wherein there are three said pairs of first and second flaps at said other side of the pallet.
 8. The pallet of claim 7, wherein the pairs are spaced apart so as to define two spaced tine-receiving openings at said other side for receiving tines of a forklift.
 9. The pallet of claim 8, wherein the first sheet defines reinforcing flaps at the locations of the two openings at said other side of the pallet, said reinforcing flaps being folded 180 degrees relative to the top deck so as to contact the top deck and being secured to the top deck to form a double-layer edge portion adjacent each of the openings at said other side of the pallet.
 10. The pallet of claim 1, wherein the first and second sheets are portions of a single continuous piece of paper-based material, said piece of paper-based material being folded at another side of the pallet opposite from said one side so as to form a side wall at said other side, the side wall extending between and connecting the top deck to the bottom deck at said other side.
 11. The pallet of claim 10, wherein there are a plurality of first flaps from the first sheet spaced apart along said one side of the pallet and a plurality of second flaps from the second sheet spaced apart along said one side, the flaps forming pairs each comprising a first flap overlapped with a second flap and secured to each other.
 12. The pallet of claim 11, wherein there are three said pairs of first and second flaps at said one side of the pallet.
 13. The pallet of claim 12, wherein the pairs are spaced apart so as to define two spaced tine-receiving openings at said one side for receiving tines of a forklift.
 14. The pallet of claim 13, wherein the first sheet defines reinforcing flaps at the locations of the two openings at said one side of the pallet, said reinforcing flaps being folded 180 degrees relative to the top deck so as to contact the top deck and being secured to the top deck to form a double-layer edge portion adjacent each of the openings at said one side of the pallet.
 15. The pallet of claim 14, wherein the side wall at said other side of the pallet defines two spaced tine-receiving openings.
 16. The pallet of claim 15, wherein the openings at said other side are created by two spaced reinforcing flaps cut out from the side wall and hingedly connected to the top deck, said reinforcing flaps being folded 180 degrees relative to the top deck so as to contact the top deck and being secured to the top deck to form a double-layer edge portion adjacent each of the openings at said other side of the pallet.
 17. The pallet of claim 1, wherein the spacers comprise wound paperboard tubes each oriented with an axis of the tube extending vertically. 